Prog 1823 - Last Dance

[JamesC]

This week's cover does nothing for me I'm afraid. It just looks a bit weird with all those floating heads. I've never liked the character design of Jack Dancer either - I think it's because he's clean shaven. Doesn't seem right for a pirate somehow.

Dredd was really good. I liked the art and thought that Dredd's voice was spot on. I always baulk slightly at stories that are specifically about sex in 2000ad though. I'm sure they could have tweaked the script slightly to make the story more suitable for what should be an all ages comic IMHO.

Savage was the best thing in the prog this week. PG's art is absolutely blinding and I found this instalment quite poignant.[spoiler] Poor Twitcher  [/spoiler]

The Past Imperfect fell a little flat. I think it could have done with more pages to explore the ideas more. It would've worked well as a two parter I think - [spoiler]with the disruption of the spell being the cliffhanger to the first episode[/spoiler].

Didn't read the Red Seas. When this strip first started I really enjoyed it but I don't think it ever lived up to its potential. I don't think the script plays to Steve Yeowell's strengths and I find that Edington likes to build large casts and then doesn't develop them ( I can't remember the names of any of the ensemble cast in Stickleback for example).

Roll on next week - I'm looking forward to some new thrills.

[Eamonn Clarke]

A medical note about the Dredd storyline. Contains spoilers!
http://eamonn1961.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/2000ad-prog-1823-medical-review.html

[Colin YNWA]

Arh just got back from a weekend away and no Prog. I really want to see how Red Seas end. Well fingers crossed tomorrow.

[Proudhuff]

Cover:  The Grant G special issue can't wait!! 


Dredd: A fine dredd, figures a wee bit awkward, but the lack of respect for the Badge shows haw far things have slipped in MC1, would have liked to have seen a male figure with the black kiss too, well it said there were some. And is thios the first mention of [spoiler]STD[/spoiler] in the Prog?

Savage:   For all I'll kicked this story when its been down, this was a really great bit of story telling and well told.

Past Imperfect: Rocket de la Revolucion:  As an old leftie I was expecting the usual anti-Cuba sentment so was surprised by this great one off, well told and Gorgeous  to look at

Red Seas:   This was a lovely bow out with everything tied up just right IMHO. Looking forward to seeing how /if this ties in with the rest of the E-verse.

Best bit o the Prog? That advert on the inside back page!!

[Hawkmumbler]

Red Seas:   This was a lovely bow out with everything tied up just right IMHO. Looking forward to seeing how /if this ties in with the rest of the E-verse.

It does, remember Orlando Doyle? He's in the next series of Stickleback by the looks of it.

[Colin Zeal]

hasn't Orlando Doyle already appeared in Stickleback?

[Hawkmumbler]

hasn't Orlando Doyle already appeared in Stickleback?

Yep, I also seem to remember an Ogre from American Gothic also being in there, let's not forget The Brotherhood of the Book existing in both TRS and Sticky. Didn't a picture of Jack Dancer appeare in Sticky at one point, as well as The Jolly Criple?

[IndigoPrime]

I always thought Red Seas suffered from scheduling issues and a lack of trades. It would be interesting to see how it reads in one collection, although I can't imagine we'll see that any time (Hell, this would be one time where I'd happily plonk down 20 quid for a massive PDF of the entire series, just so I can read it from start to finish, without digging out hundreds of Progs.)

As for the ending... it was OK. I think it was perfectly suitable for the type of series that it was, and it's never really easy to do a full-stop.

[Darren Stephens]

Good prog. Bit of a bland cover, saved by some nicely judged colours. The Dredd was pretty good, but felt a little off somehow. Can't quite put my finger on it. Enjoyed the rest a lot, the highlight for me being the Past Imperfect story. Really good. The art was lovely, too.

[IndigoPrime]

Having read the rest of the Prog, I enjoyed that Past Imperfect a lot and agree that it would have been nice had it more room to breathe (perhaps as a 3riller, or whatever they're called). Dredd was interesting, showcasing problems with justice dept., and it felt like the right kind of voice (i.e. similar to what Wagner might pen). Savage... I do like aspects of the grey, and it does evoke Charley's War, but I do hope Mills ensures there's some balance here. Of late, he's sometimes derailed into "the people you thought were heroes are EVIL and the evil guys are lovely bunnies, just doing their jobs". I'd hope Savage remains poised on: "US just as bad as the Volgs, just in a different way"; "Savage disillusioned and fanatical"; "soldiers on both sides being screwed over by those who want control of the oil fields". I'd certainly be unhappy to see too much humanising of senior Volgs if the US ends up being solely painted as a crazed colonialist state with angry robots and crazed people behind them, because that suggests a writer's political agenda rather than a natural evolution for the world within the story.

[Jim_Campbell]

The "writer's political agenda" overriding the "natural evolution for the world within the story"...?

In a Pat Mills story?! Heaven forfend...

Cheers

Jim

[IndigoPrime]

Well, quite, but it'd be a pity if that happened yet again. I don't doubt that it probably will though, with the brutal overthrow of the British somehow being sidelined because, you know, AMERIcAnS Are TeH EVILz.

[TordelBack]

... the brutal overthrow of the British somehow being sidelined because, you know, AMERIcAnS Are TeH EVILz.

I don't think that's Pat's point at all: rather than individual nation states like the US or the Volgan Republic somehow being good or bad, it's big business and its manipulation of politics and conflict to its own ends that constitutes actual tangible evil.   The patriotic narratives of invasion and liberation are just scripts doled out by the super-rich for the Bill Savages and the Vashkovs to follow as they struggle and die in the unknowing service of their real masters.

And he's not wrong.

[JOE SOAP]

I thought they'd decided Howard Quartz was the enemy and if I remember correctly, Savage expressed the sentiment of the 'Volgans' just being the grunts for the elite.

[Aonghus]

My two cents:

Nice cover, certainly my favourite piece of recent Red Seas art (though that's not saying much; not a massive fan of how sparse it is).

Fun Dredd, and the chin looking eactly like I imagine it in my head- he looks a bit young for his age though, I thought.

Savage is a strip I've never read before this most recent run, so I found it very difficult to invest myself in the story or characters. It's been fun, and the [spoiler]twist at the end[/spoiler] was [spoiler]poignant[/spoiler].

Red Seas: I haven't really cared much about this strip in years;  I always enjoy reading it, but it's just not my cup of tea. The double-length finale was fun, and brought things together nicely, if a bit cheesily- I can just imagine a live-action version where at the end everyone laughs, high-fives, and the credits roll on the freeze-frame. Decent craic, but I'll be glad to see the back of it and Savage for the sake of fresh proggage.